Gunnar Henderson 2021

[Frobby]

8 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

And all of a sudden a “struggling” Gunnar is up to a .746 at age 20 in High A at SS. Darn, I love struggling prospects. 

Here is Gunnar’s hi A season so far:

Games 1-11: .032/.295/.032, 0 HR, 2 RBI

Games 12-30: .333/.414/.573, 3 HR, 11 RBI

Games 31-42: .091/.167/.159, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Games 43-62: .266/.366/.494,  3 HR, 14 RBI

Only two weeks left to go, hopefully he can stay hot and finish with  pretty solid overall numbers, though it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster getting there.

[sportsfan8703]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

Here is Gunnar’s hi A season so far:

Games 1-11: .032/.295/.032, 0 HR, 2 RBI

Games 12-30: .333/.414/.573, 3 HR, 11 RBI

Games 31-42: .091/.167/.159, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Games 43-62: .266/.366/.494,  3 HR, 14 RBI

Only two weeks left to go, hopefully he can stay hot and finish with  pretty solid overall numbers, though it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster getting there.

Idk much about teams in the minors outside of our own, but in those first 11 games, Aberdeen played Gwinnett like 9 times, and it was clear that Gwinnett was pitching around/not pitching to Gunnar at all. So those first 11 might be flukey. 
 

I still think he goes to the AFL and starts in Bowie next year. 

[Frobby]

18 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Idk much about teams in the minors outside of our own, but in those first 11 games, Aberdeen played Gwinnett like 9 times, and it was clear that Gwinnett was pitching around/not pitching to Gunnar at all. So those first 11 might be flukey. 

I doubt it, since Gwinnett is in AAA and Aberdeen is in Hi A.  

Gunnar’s first 11 games were against the Rome Braves and the Brooklyn Cyclones.  

[ChuckS]

Gunnar is inching towards finishing with numbers where an argument can be made that he can start 2022 in Bowie.  With Bowie being more favorable than Aberdeen for power hitters it's not a terrible idea to start him there especially if they want Mayo to get all of the 3B reps in Aberdeen.  Stowers and Watson certainly found more success against Double A pitching after they were promoted this season. 

[sportsfan8703]

21 hours ago, Frobby said:

I doubt it, since Gwinnett is in AAA and Aberdeen is in Hi A.  

Gunnar’s first 11 games were against the Rome Braves and the Brooklyn Cyclones.  

Haha. I knew it was a Braves affiliate. I was thinking Rome. Those first 5 games against Rome they walked him 8 times. A weird 5 game series against a team that obviously was avoiding the hot, freshly promoted, prospect. 

[jabba72]

2 hours ago, ChuckS said:

Gunnar is inching towards finishing with numbers where an argument can be made that he can start 2022 in Bowie.  With Bowie being more favorable than Aberdeen for power hitters it's not a terrible idea to start him there especially if they want Mayo to get all of the 3B reps in Aberdeen.  Stowers and Watson certainly found more success against Double A pitching after they were promoted this season. 

I'd rather start him in Aberdeen and if he crushes it for two weeks then promote him to Bowie. He'll be in AA soon enough if he has success. Thats going to be a big step if Westburg is any indicator. 

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, jabba72 said:

I'd rather start him in Aberdeen and if he crushes it for two weeks then promote him to Bowie. He'll be in AA soon enough if he has success. Thats going to be a big step if Westburg is any indicator. 

Each player is different, obviously.   I'm fine either way but why two weeks?   What if he starts out next year exactly like he is this year?

Watson, Stowers, and others made the jump to Bowie without much problem.   Westburg has been in a long slump.   I don't think Westburg's slump should have any bearing on what happens with Henderson.   I think Mayo is going to start next year at Aberdeen so I think it depends on if they want Henderson playing mostly SS which he would do at Aberdeen or mostly 3B which he'd probably do at Bowie.

[jabba72]

49 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Each player is different, obviously.   I'm fine either way but why two weeks?   What if he starts out next year exactly like he is this year?

Watson, Stowers, and others made the jump to Bowie without much problem.   Westburg has been in a long slump.   I don't think Westburg's slump should have any bearing on what happens with Henderson.   I think Mayo is going to start next year at Aberdeen so I think it depends on if they want Henderson playing mostly SS which he would do at Aberdeen or mostly 3B which he'd probably do at Bowie.

I agree Mayo and Henderson are both ideally 3B, so there could be a jam in A+ next year. You dont want to rush Henderson just for the sake of getting him away from Mayo. They will likely be at or near the same levels going forward no matter what the O's do. Then you have Westburg, whom some say is a 3B also. 

[waroriole]

20 minutes ago, jabba72 said:

I agree Mayo and Henderson are both ideally 3B, so there could be a jam in A+ next year. You dont want to rush Henderson just for the sake of getting him away from Mayo. They will likely be at or near the same levels going forward no matter what the O's do. Then you have Westburg, whom some say is a 3B also. 

I haven’t seen anyone say Westburg is a 3B. I’ve seen 2B because of arm strength, but most reports say he should be able to stay at SS. 
 

I think you just keep Henderson at SS in Aberdeen and let Mayo play 3B. 

[Frobby]

19 minutes ago, waroriole said:

I haven’t seen anyone say Westburg is a 3B. I’ve seen 2B because of arm strength, but most reports say he should be able to stay at SS. 
 

I think you just keep Henderson at SS in Aberdeen and let Mayo play 3B. 

I want to see how Henderson finishes the season, but I’m inclined to promote him to Bowie if he finishes well.  He’ll finish the year with roughly 325 PA in hi A.    That’s enough so far as I’m concerned.

[waroriole]

14 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I want to see how Henderson finishes the season, but I’m inclined to promote him to Bowie if he finishes well.  He’ll finish the year with roughly 325 PA in hi A.    That’s enough so far as I’m concerned.

I prefer he see a little more success before moving to Bowie. Plus it gives him a chance to play SS every day. 

[LookinUp]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

I want to see how Henderson finishes the season, but I’m inclined to promote him to Bowie if he finishes well.  He’ll finish the year with roughly 325 PA in hi A.    That’s enough so far as I’m concerned.

I think it's all pure speculation at this point. How they finish this year will have little bearing if they come back with 10 more lbs of muscle and a refined swing, for example.

What you do in spring training matters. It's possible, I'd even say likely, that all of Westburg, Mayo and Henderson come back looking pretty different than how they finish this year. They have a full season of competing against other team's live competition behind them. With a little luck, each will take a physical and mental step forward this offseason. However, if you show up off of your game, this year's finish likely won't be enough to earn that next promotion unless the O's are hell bent on playing them at the same position, which would require different levels.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

I think it's all pure speculation at this point. How they finish this year will have little bearing if they come back with 10 more lbs of muscle and a refined swing, for example.

What you do in spring training matters. It's possible, I'd even say likely, that all of Westburg, Mayo and Henderson come back looking pretty different than how they finish this year. They have a full season of competing against other team's live competition behind them. With a little luck, each will take a physical and mental step forward this offseason. However, if you show up off of your game, this year's finish likely won't be enough to earn that next promotion unless the O's are hell bent on playing them at the same position, which would require different levels.

This is certainly a good point.  I expect next year’s placements will definitely be influenced heavily by what goes on in spring training.   Let’s just say I think Gunnar will be in better position if he finishes the year strong.   

[LookinUp]

12 minutes ago, Frobby said:

This is certainly a good point.  I expect next year’s placements will definitely be influenced heavily by what goes on in spring training.   Let’s just say I think Gunnar will be in better position if he finishes the year strong.   

Right, and to be clear, it's not like where you finish last year doesn't matter. It clearly does. I just think a guy might be able to force himself up in the right circumstance, and another guy might take that option out of the equation altogether if they're not looking better when they come back.

Also, we shouldn't forget about Joey Ortiz in this SS discussion.

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

Right, and to be clear, it's not like where you finish last year doesn't matter. It clearly does. I just think a guy might be able to force himself up in the right circumstance, and another guy might take that option out of the equation altogether if they're not looking better when they come back.

Also, we shouldn't forget about Joey Ortiz in this SS discussion.

I definitely haven’t forgotten him.  He might have been in AAA but for his injury.   Hopefully he comes back strong.